A while ago I was warned by eBay (you can set warnings if you’re looking for specific items) that another Yaesu FTV-650B transverter was available.
Since I got an FT101, I fell in love with this old technology. At this moment I own a FV-101B external VFO, a SP-101PB Landliner external speaker/phone patch, and a YO-100 Monitor Scope. On my wanted list was the FTV-650 6m transverter. I also have an FT857-D transceiver, but since the beginning the PA tends to oscillate when selecting 6m so I rarely use it on that band. Not only is the FTV-650B a nice expansion of the FT101 line, but it also enables me to make QSOs on 6m…
eBay had sent a couple of warnings before, but most of the time the offered equipment was qualified as junk, for parts only, not tested and other sales prevention statements. This one was no different. Except.. for the description, where the seller stated that he tested the unit and that he got at least 12W out. Seller price was $240 including shipping costs and that was a bargain. So I bought the unit and a couple of weeks later it arrived in good shape.
But was it really good? I fired up my measuring equipment and connected the FTV-650B to the FT101 with the 3 cables that came with the transverter. First I tuned the FT101 to 28MHz, the intermediate frequency. Then I switched the FT650B on and waited for the PA tube to heat up. I increased the drive from the FT101 and I reached effortless an output power of over 40 Watts. This was beyond expectation. I also measured the sensitivity (there is always a chance that the front-end has been blown) and I got -120dBm as least decernible signal, which is equivalent to 0.3uV.
I’m a very happy guy. The FTV-650B works beyond expectation. Now I’m waiting for the 6m band to open up and see if I can make some QSOs. To be continued…
